The newest iOS 11.3 update enables a feature that asks if you're sure you want to delete a text message/iMessage once you choose the delete option. It's making me crazy! I tried searching through the settings to remove this deletion confirmation, but can't find anything on the topic. Is there any way to remove this feature?
iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 11.2.6, iOS 11.3
Dave in Oxford wrote:
Every so often Apple comes up with a "Feature" that so small and so annoying that begs the question as to whether they ever consult with a user. YES! Delete confirmation is an unnecessary addition to IOS and we can only hope that some security patch will remove it
No, Apple doesn't consult with users. Instead, they see what users do with their phones and often introduce features based on what they perceive as a real need. This is one such feature. Daily, multiple users come here to these user only forums begging for help to recover an accidentally deleted text message. In most cases, the only way to get the message back is to restore from backup, which often people simply don't have.
So, this very small change was introduced to help the countless thousands of users to ensure when they use swipe to delete that they truly do want to delete the message.
Are you aware there is another simple method to delete messages that will not ask you to confirm you want to delete? Yes, Apple provided the best of BOTH worlds to users. Simply use the Edit/Tap Messages(s)/Tap Trash icon and voila, message(s) delete without confirmation. That can't be any more cumbersome could it? It's three steps, just like it was before on swipe to delete.
Isn't hard if you search here to see that LOTS of people have the issue of accidentally deleting with the two step process. The fact that you have to relocate your finger to a different part of the screen makes it far less likely that you will accidentally delete it, that has been proven in UI design tests. Again, are you aware of the forthcoming iCloud messages?
Not talking about skeuomorphic - just the simple fact that words are not the same, visually, as a button (so I turn on the option to reveal them - yay, an option). Or that if I'm on a screen and nothing is "hanging" through the bottom, I have no idea that I might be able to scroll and see more - unless I physically try it. I shouldn't have to do that. Visually, the screen should let me know if there is more off screen or not. Those kinds of things. I should not have to tap, scroll, push, etc to figure out how to move around or if there is something available to me. A touchscreen interface, that requires sight, should visually let me know that - unless there is some taptic/haptic way to let me know.
he was probably too busy triple step deleting texts with No Option. we Don’t All need a Nanny to keep us from accidentally deleting messages in a 2 step process. Apple should give us an Option, not a Nanny.
ericole wrote:
Not talking about skeuomorphic - just the simple fact that words are not the same, visually, as a button (so I turn on the option to reveal them - yay, an option). Or that if I'm on a screen and nothing is "hanging" through the bottom, I have no idea that I might be able to scroll and see more - unless I physically try it. I shouldn't have to do that. Visually, the screen should let me know if there is more off screen or not. Those kinds of things. I should not have to tap, scroll, push, etc to figure out how to move around or if there is something available to me. A touchscreen interface, that requires sight, should visually let me know that - unless there is some taptic/haptic way to let me know.
Tell Apple:
rene_wood wrote:
Remember, i don’t need a Nanny.
I'm not sure I agree. I figure what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If people are going to keep posting their requests to Apple here, despite the obvious pointlessness, there's nothing wrong with my posting, repeatedly, the correct venue for those opinions.
Lawrence Finch wrote:
::offtopic:: I'm going to unfollow this thread. As the tomcat romancing the skunk said; "I've enjoyed as much of this as I can stand."
Probably for the best.
I'm going to try to restrict my responses to "Tell Apple here...." We'll see how well that works.
ericole wrote:
So why are you even reading page 43 of 44 on this BAD UI DESIGN which causes wasteful, unnecessary steps and is a regression in usability if you don't care about this? Apparently you have all kinds of free time in the world that you can waste. Many of the rest of us do not and find it utterly asinine when Apple (or any other company) makes a usability change that brings no benefit, and a big downside.
That's your opinion. Not everyone feels that way. Especially people who come here multiple times a day begging us to tell them a way to get their messages back. So, next time, maybe you should at least attempt to see if there might be a good reason for the change. Also, it may be a part of the inherent design that will be a part of Messages in iCloud. The point is, that people are acting like their lives have been utterly destroyed over something that is, at worst, an irritation. Just try to keep it all in perspective, and things will be a lot easier to deal with.
GB
kashu1 wrote:
You'd sure know about that.
Apparently you do as well. Why are you even posting here? This is a user to user support forum. We don't care if you don't like it. How can one take "Apple - if your listening, please get rid of this" any other way but literally. It is a statement to Apple. It is a pointless statement to Apple. It is a waste of time.
GB
Not acting if my life has been destroyed, maybe others are, but it is danged annoying and a waste of my time that is unnecessary. I've hated this "feature" on the apple watch since I got it, so a lot of messages just sit on there b/c it is a pain to delete them. Now I have the same annoyance on my phone. big pain. Again, a simple toggle will allow those who need multiple hand-holdings on whether or not to delete something to have them, and the rest of us can do without it.
Well, that sure would be bad for them. If they need multiple "are you sure?" messages they can have them. I would just like the option for it to work like it always has. The swipe and then the tap is enough, for me, to be sure if I want to delete it.
So because people are unable to follow a two-step process (swipe left, then lift finger to tap delete) the rest of us have to deal with this nonsense? Just because they come here moaning about having deleted something they didn't mean to is not a reason for this "feature" to intrude on millions of others. Someone on the first or second page of this thread did a simple calculation in how much wasted time this is for the normal user - 25 mins a year I think. Multiplied by millions of users. What waste.
In reality, if you look at the iOS screen when this is going on, the new 'are you sure' window doesn't really help. The message you have already swiped to delete is not visible on the screen, so the person can't "double check" if they really want to delete that message without canceling that dialogue box, then waiting for the message to slide back into place. There is nothing visually on the screen that would tell them they shouldn't delete the one they are trying to delete.
I guess the point is that you could NOT "accidentally hit delete" in the previous UI method. It was a two-step process. If a person gets through the 2-step process it is on them, not on some bad UI design by Apple. What we have now is bad UI design - it is adding steps to deal with some people who apparently have issues using their iOS device. I'd bet for MOST of the iOS users, that was never an issue.
You are trying to ignore FACTS. You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts. The fact I am talking about is that there have been historically 5 to 10 new posts a day in this forum from people who accidentally deleted messages, and are either unhappy, or sometimes devastated, that they could not recover them. Such as the final exchange with a loved one who has died, or an abused spouse who needs the texts for legal action. These are REAL, not made up.
But the reality is that they never could be "accidentally" deleted. It was already a 2-step process, and if someone did delete them they took 2, distinct steps. There was no way to accidentally hit a message and delete it. That would be bad UI design. That is not what existed before.
Yes, in your test sample of 1 they could not be accidentally deleted. In the real world that Apple deals with and tests with they could be easily accidentally deleted since when you swipe left your finger is poised right over the delete button. Hence the large volume of people posting here about accidentally deleting them. I've done it because I'm not perfect like you.
iOS 11.3 - Delete Message Confirmation
